After being hit by a pitch, Ken Griffey, Jr. throws the ball into the stands. (AP/David Kohl photo) | ZOOM |

        One at-bat kind of summed up the Reds' 2-0 loss to the Seattle Mariners Wednesday night and the Reds' luck of late. Sean Casey was up with two outs and runners at first and third in the first inning. He hit one into the hole at second.

        “I thought, "That's through. But, ah, there's Bret Boone. I'm out,'” Casey said. “Any other second baseman, that's a hit.”

        Boone made a sliding stop on the grass in short right field and threw Casey out from his knees.

        The Mariners were out of the inning and the Reds were effectively out of the game.

        “It's a frustrating game sometimes,” Casey said. “Any other time, that would have been through. You do everything perfect sometimes and you still don't get the results.”

        After the fizzled threat in the first, the Reds went quietly before a crowd of 27,860 at Cinergy Field.

        The Reds have lost three straight and are two games behind St. Louis in the National League Central.

        The Reds enter tonight's game with the Mariners trying to avoid being swept for the first time since the Giants took three straight from them in San Francisco 6 1/2 weeks ago.

        “We've got to keep pressing,” Casey said. “We've got to win (today).”

Bret Boone rounds the bases past his brother Aaron after hitting a solo home run. (AP/David Kohl photo) | ZOOM |

        Wednesday night, the Reds were dealing with a difficult assignment: Freddy Garcia, the 25-year-old Seattle right-hander and defending American League ERA champ. He pushed his record to 10-4 and won his sixth straight decision. He allowed only three hits and did not walk a batter, striking out seven.

        Reds starter Elmer Dessens (4-4) gave Garcia a battle but made two mistakes. They resulted in solo homers to Boone and Mike Cameron, both former Reds.

        The Reds' lack of clutch hitting is getting to be epidemic. The Reds haven't had a hit with a runner in scoring position since Adam Dunn's three-run homer Saturday.

        Since then, they are 0-for-26 in those situations, including 0-for-8 Wednesday. The Reds entered the game hitting .221 with runners in scoring position, the worst mark in the majors.

        The Reds have scored two runs in their last three games. But the hitting funk goes back much further. They are averaging 2.3 runs over the last six games and 3.0 over the last 17 games.

Elmer Dessens reacts after Mike Cameron's homer. (Steven M. Herppich photo) | ZOOM |

        “You can't expect to go through a 162-game season as a team or individually without having a slump,” Todd Walker said. “We've got to try to keep our heads above water and get through this.”

        Wednesday's game started like a continuation of Tuesday's game. The Reds threatened and failed in the clutch.

        Casey's failure to get a run home in the first marked his 17th consecutive game without an RBI. It followed a Dunn strikeout.

        The Mariners took the lead in the second when Cameron led off with his 11th homer of the year.

        Boone made it 2-0 by leading off the fourth with his ninth homer.

        “Two mistakes,” Dessens said, “and that was the game.”

Todd Walker makes a sharp play in the field. (Steven M. Herppich photo) | ZOOM |

        After the first inning, Garcia retired 23 of the next 25 batters. The Reds did get Walker to second base with no outs in the fifth. But Jason LaRue, Dessens and Barry Larkin went out routinely.

        “We faced a guy who was awfully tough,” Reds manager Bob Boone said. “He was a little too much for us.”

        The Reds wouldn't threaten until Garcia left. Ken Griffey Jr. singled with one out in the ninth off closer Kazuhiro Sasaki, and Dunn followed with a single.

        But Casey struck out, and Aaron Boone popped up.

Mariners 2, Reds 0 Reds Box, Runs Reds could feast on schedule ahead Cameron, Boone extend Reds' misery Fans, media follow Ichiro Griffey needs more trophy space Reds Notebook: Kearns sits after 0-for-4 Castillo's streak reaches 33 Yankees 20, Rockies 10 Dodgers 5, Blue Jays 2 Giants 8, Devil Rays 0 Orioles 6, Diamondbacks 1 Padres 3, Red Sox 2

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